Back from the Poly

[mimmi]

And loved it!! We were in the Aoteoroa building and while I wasn't excited about this building first I learned to love it. It's near to the ceremonial house and I liked watching the monorail.
Our room was clean, absoultely no issues there. The only thing I don't like were the single glazed windows. It was very cold during the night and we felt wind and cold getting in through those low quality windows, but I get the impression that these windows are pretty common in some countries. Unfortunately the windows forced us to use the air condition/heating during night which made us all a little ill (congestion, sore throats). But as I had been expecting this it was no big deal.
Staff was nice, reception/check in efficient and the landscape is beautiful.
We had character breakfast at 'Ohana which was very nice, breakfast at Kona was great, food at captain Cook was disgusting however, I wouldn't recommend the noodle dishes.
What I liked best was the monorail. We never waited for longer than 5 minutes, it was so convenient.

After reading about dole whips so many times here on the boards I had to buy one and while it was good I don't understand what's s special about it? It's regular pineapple ice cream, it tastes exactly how it should??
After my stay there I would highly recommend this hotel beside the window issue which is the same everywhere in this area and Capatin Cook we had only positive experiences.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks for posting your review.

 

[Susiesnowflake]

We love it too! Glad you enjoyed your stay. Funny how we all have such different opinions and tastes... I love Captain Cook's. I love the turkey club, flatbread pizza and Polynesian salad. Get them every visit...sometimes more than once. I vaguely remember trying the noodle dish in the past, and I don't think it was a favorite of mine either.

 

[NikitaZee]

Thanks for the review. Question for you - when you showered, did your bathroom fog up with steam all over the mirror? That was an annoying problem we encountered our last two visits, and it seemed to me that the exhaust fans in the bathrooms are not functioning anymore. Maintenance told us they were using one big vent for each longhouse, no more individual bathroom exhaust fans. That didn't seem to be working well in our experience. All the surfaces in the bathroom were wet from the moisture - I learned quickly not to keep my make-up in there. Just wondering if they were still using that method.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Thanks for the review. Question for you - when you showered, did your bathroom fog up with steam all over the mirror? That was an annoying problem we encountered our last two visits, and it seemed to me that the exhaust fans in the bathrooms are not functioning anymore. Maintenance told us they were using one big vent for each longhouse, no more individual bathroom exhaust fans. That didn't seem to be working well in our experience. All the surfaces in the bathroom were wet from the moisture - I learned quickly not to keep my make-up in there. Just wondering if they were still using that method.

Windows fogged up in our bathroom at the Tahiti.

Forgot to mention that the last day we were there the AC came on and we couldn't turn it off. It was freezing that night.

 

[kaffinito]

Glad you had a god stay there.

I'm with you on the Dole whips -I don't get the appeal? Maybe you can get one in the MK with chocolate ice cream and pineapple toppings - that would make it better to me.

 

[Sue M]

Glad you had a good stay at Poly. It's a great resort. We were in Tokelau.
We were there in winter, and didn't feel drafty in our room. We did keep thermostat set at 72.
Maybe they need to put new weather stripping in your room.

 

[MelissathePooh]

Dampness was an issue we had last time we stayed. I think we were in Nihue??? As much as I love the Poly it really showed its age that trip. The metal bathroom doors and door fixtures really bugged me - just seemed cheap. But yeah - the dampness from the bathroom made the room feel kind of icky in general. The whole hallway had that damp smell too.

We used to enjoy splurging for weekend stays around the monorail since DVC points were so high, but that's not much of an issue anymore. Don't get me wrong I still love the Polynesian, but am content to enjoy a meal there and stick with my dvc.

 

[mimmi]

I guess the mirror steemed up but I don't remember really. I was so tired every morning at 6:30 . I just remeber the vent being quite loud. I always put my make up on in the bedroom as we were four people and the shower was very much in demand.

I guess I'm just not used to having to heat a bedroom. At home I turn off the heating in the afternoon and due to insulation and tripple glazed windows it doesn't get much cooler and the air isn't as dry as in a heated room. I guess double and triple glazed windows weren't even invented when the Poly was built, so no big deal.

Now I can't decide where to stay next year. I wanted to try out WL but I enjoyed the Poly location so much. What a problem...

 

[LowesChevy]

sounds like you had a great time, thanks for sharing

 

[exit30]

We absolutely love Aotearoa, we always request the monorail view and have gotten it every time, I don't think it's a highly requested building. We have never, ever heard the luau, nor any noise from the stock car track as some have stated in other threads.

 

[disneyred]

thanks for your review on the poly

 

[mickeynut1]

Thanks for your review and I'm glad you enjoyed your stay . We love the Poly.....it's our favorite resort . We were in Samoa and loved the location....it's very convenient to everything . We also had great experiences with Captain Cooks.....the food was always good and we thought there was plenty of variety. Good luck deciding on which resort to stay at next......the WL is great and we love it there as well, but the Poly has an edge for us since there are 4 of us and the larger rooms plus the daybed makes a big difference for my family .

 

[jimmysmom74]

Great info everyone, we are staying in OCT, Is the monorail loud when it goes by-I was wondering since my son would be in bed early, and I didn't know if I should request a certain area that is quieter or just leave it to chance?

 

[mimmi]

I didn't hear the monorail at all but i'm usually wearing earplugs. Also I'm not sure about the operating times. We usually left our room at 7am and came back around 9pm so maybe there wasn't a monorail at all. I remember watching it on check in day but it was around noon and with all the background noise it didn't seem loud.

 

[guitarob]

Thank you for your review!!

 

[heidijanesmith]

Thanks for your review. The Poly is our favorite resort! My DH laments about the lack of choices at Captian Cooks, but I liked the food options there. Luckily he was able to try different foods at GF as it was so close by. Hope you had a great trip!

 

[debaone]

After reading about dole whips so many times here on the boards I had to buy one and while it was good I don't understand what's s special about it? It's regular pineapple ice cream, it tastes exactly how it should??

I, too, was pleased but unimpressed with the Dole Whip. After hearing so much about them, I was excited to give it a try. Perhaps my anticipation created unrealistic expectations, but it was just pineapple soft serve.